The number of Drenthe reports that reached the police via Report Crime Anonymous increased by twelve percent last year. 775 reports were made, eighty more than a year earlier. In the Northern Netherlands, the number of reports has increased by more than a quarter to 2,478.
Drug-related tips came in most often from Drenthe, 500 times. The largest increases in reports were seen in the investigation of persons (141 percent) and sexual offenses (88 percent). Across the country, eight percent more reports were sent to the police in 2023 than a year earlier. There was a fifteen percent decrease in tips about traffic offenses.
In Drenthe, reports to Meld Misdaad Anoniem, also known as M., have helped in finding suspects in various cases. For example, thanks to tips after a broadcast of Opsporing requested, two suspects came into the picture for the abuse of two boys after the Liberation Festival in Assen.
A tip also led to an investigation in 2021 into a 49-year-old woman from Hoogeveen who illegally bred French Bulldogs for sale for years. She was sentenced last month to 120 hours of community service and a fine of 33,500 euros.